Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ANC I ENT
YPT
DONALD B. REDFORD
EDITOR IN CHIEF
VOLUME 2
M ^R
OXJ.ORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2001
OSIRIS 615
Kingdom Writings. Norman, Okla., 1991. A broad variety of texts enabled believers, through the force of myth and ritual, to
from, or thought to date to, the Middle Kingdom, the so-called clas-
accept the conviction that life after death was warranted.
sical period of Eglptian writing. Includes an excellent discussion
of Egyptian genres, with short, helpful introductions to each text Fom and Name. The representation of Osiris in its
and an emphasis on the oral basis of many Egyptian writings. developed form shows him wearing the White Crown of
Simpson, W. K., ed. The Literature of Ancient Egtpt: An Antholog of Upper Egypt and carrying the crook and the flail. Else-
Stories, Itstructions, and Poetry. New Haven, 1973. Standard one- where, the White Crown often became the atef-crown
volume collection of materials from all periods, with short intro-
through the addition of feathers, and there were various
ductions for each text.
complex vensions of it. The preponderance of the White
Secondary Discussions Crown in the earlier versions of Osiris suggests an Upper
Dijk, J. van. "Myth and Mlthmaking in Ancient Egypt." In Civilizn- EgSptian origin for the god. As for the crook and the flail,
tions in the Ancient Near Edst, edited by J. Sasson, vol. 3, pp. 1697- they both raise questions of political and sociological im-
1709. New York, 1995. Short overview with a current bibliography port. The crook suggests a shepherd god, and Wolfgang
of primary sources and secondary discussions.
Foley, J. M. Ihe Theory of Oral Composition: History and Methodolog.
Helck (1962) has argued that the Syrian Adonis provides
Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1988. A classic in the field. the closest contemporary analogy. Marked differences ex-
Foley, J.M. 'Word-Power, Perfoimance, and Tladition." Ioumal of isted, howeve4 in both myths and cults; and, in fact, the
Ameican Folklore 105 (1992), 275-301. Brings together different concept of a sovereign gd as shepherd of his people was
strands of discussion of oral tradition.
shared by other religious ideologies of the ancient Near
Hollis, S. T. The Ancient Egtptian'Thlz of Two Brothers": The Oldest
Fairy Tale in theWorld. Norman, Okla., 1990. A "thick description"
East, expressed both in art and literature. The function
of the New Kingdom tale in its Egyptian and ancient Near Eastern and origin of the flail are more enigmatic. Perhaps it is a
context, suggesting the kinds of thinking an audience might have fly-whisk or a shepherd's whip. It is shown sometimes
brought to a performance of the tale. with other deities, such as Min. Bothflail and crook, how-
Lord, A. B. The Singer of Tales. Cambridge, Mass., 1960. The classic
evef,, appear with the god Andjety of the ninth Lower
work on oral composition that forms the basis for any fiscussion
of the topic.
Egyptian nome, which suggests a possible source.
Lord, A. B. Epic Singers and Oral kadition. Ithaca, 1991. Collection The constant feature of the figure of Osiris was its
of Lord's papers, some refining the work presented in 1960. The mummified form, with a close linkage of the legs. The fu-
opening essay, 'Words Heard and Words Seen," is particularly rele- nerary import was thus stressed. Whereas the Old King-
vant to the present discussion.
dom, by and large, has yielded no iconographic evidence,
Muhawi, I., and S. Kanaana. Speak, Bird, Speak Again: Palcstinian
Arab Folktales. Berkeley, 1989. Examples of contemporary oral folk-
a relief on a block from the pyramid temple of the king
tales collected from illiterate and semiliterate narrators, accompa- Djedkare Izezi of the fifth dyttasty presents a figure bear-
nied by an excellent discussion explaining and setting the tales in ing the name of Osiris; it belongs to a row of divine fig-
their contemporary context. ures, today partly damaged, and it has been dated to the
Niditch, S. Oral World and Written Word: Ancient Israelite Literature. closing years of that dynasty (c.2405 nce). The lower part
Louisville, 1996. Excellent discussion ofbiblical materials as origi-
nating in an oral culture.
of the Osiris figure is missing, but the left arm hangs
Ong, W. J. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. Lon- freely, suggesting that here the figure was not mummi-
don and New York, 1 982. Discussion of the psychodynamics of oral- form. Absent also are the flail and the crook, although the
ity, and theory about the impact of writing and eventual literacy on missing right arm might be grasping something; on the
oral cultures. head is a long wig. Since the form is that of a standing
Redford, Donald B. "Ancient Eg;ptian Literature: An Ovewiew." In
Civilizations ofthe Ancient Near East, editedby J. Sasson, vol. 4, pp.
anthropomorphic figure, with none of the distinctive Osi-
2223-2241. New York, 1995. Fine overview with a short introduc- rian attributes, discussion and debate about it have
tory section paying special attention to oral composition and trans- emerged (see Griffrths 1980; Lorton 1985; and Eaton-
mission. Krauss 1987). Rival gods at that time were Anubis, Khen-
Vansina, J. Oral Tiadition as History. Madison, Wis., 1985. A classic in tamenthiw, and Wepwawet, and all three had jackal
the field.
forms; that Osiris, too, was originally imagined as a jackal
SUSAN TOWER HOLLIS
has been suggested by words in the pyramid of Neferkare,
which say of the dead king, "thy face is [that of ] a jackal,
like Osiris." Osiris'ensuing human form clearly became a
OSIRIS. In origin a royal mortuary god, Osiris exempli- vital feature of his appeal, and his identity with the dead
fied a cult that was begun in a fairly restricted context, king contributed to his popularity.
but one which achieved wide popularity and a notable The god's nameWsir (in Coptic, Oycipe or Oycipi) was
expansion of functions. The exclusive link with royalty written at first with the sign for a throne, followed by the
was abandoned just prior to the Middle Kingdom; the fu- sign for an eye; later the order was inverted. Among the
nerary aspect, howevel always persisted, and Osiris was many meanings suggested is one cognate with Ashur; irr'-
always shown in mummy wrappings. While the funerary plyrng a Syrian origin; but also "he who takes his seat or
aspect was primarily based on the experience of death, it throne"; "she or that which has sovereign power and is
616 OSIRIS
of humanity. In constrast, the dead Osiris-King has es- and dread, his benign promise of renewed life came to be
caped all that, mainly because he is rooted in the experi- expressed through the appeal of new life, in the cycle of
ence of death; and the same inviolate sanctity attends his nature's fertility, especially with water and vegetation. Ini-
identity with the multitude of nonroyal believers. tially it was the water used in the libations for the dead,
Cult Centers and Ideologly. Some early sources con- but through links with Orion, Sirius, and the new yea{,
nect Osiris with the towns of Heliopolis and Busiris, both Osiris was associated with the Nile and its annual inunda-
in Lower Eg5rpt; but others connect him with Upper tion. He was also equated with Nepe4 the prehistoric har-
Egypt, especially with the town of Abydos and its nome vest god, and he was credited with the creation of wheat
(province), where kings of the first two dynasties were and barley. In association with this were the funerary
buried. Moreove4, Osiris often wore the crown of Upper practices of the Grain-Osiris and Osiris-Bed; for the Festi-
Egypt. Some texts link the god with both Busiris and val of Khoiak, a mold in the form of Osiris was filled with
Abydos, and David Lorton has suggested that a court at sprouting plants.
Memphis might well have planned the double emphasis, In the Greco-Roman era, the human appeal of the
with a pan-Eg5ptian political purpose. Osiris cult-which was spread to other countries-
The early ritual of royal burial points to Osiris as the achieved emotional intensity; this direction is especially
central ideological figure. Mummification was the basic evident in the works of the ancient writers Diodorus, plu-
rite, and the deity Anubis, guide to the underworld, was tarch, and Apuleius, who bear witness, also, to the force
considered the embalmer who rendered that service to the of Greek religion, particularly from the deities Demeter
deceased king, just as he did to Osiris. The rites of mourn- and Dionysus, and from the Eleusinian Mysteries. Isis
ing and of "Opening the Mouth" led to the idea of the then assumed a more prominent role and, to some extent,
mummy being endowed with renewed life. A concomitant Osiris was replaced by the god Sarapis, also of Egyptian
idea was the defeat of the deity Seth, Osiris' brother and origin, in a combined form of Osiris and Apis. The basic
the perpetrator of his death. That was prominent in the elements of the myth and cult remained Eg5rptian.
Osirian rites portrayed in the Stela of Ikhernofret, from An idea that was wrongly inferred from some of the
the twelfth dynasty: there, Sethian enemies were said to classical and other sources was that parts of the body of
attack the Nimt-bark of Osiris, but they were repulsed, Osiris were worshipped as relics in various regions. yet
after which Osiris was glorified in Abydos. the true Egyptian belief was that parts of his body were
The burial rites, including mummification, had an ear- explicitly equated with the nomes of Eg5rpt, often in rela-
lier origin than did Osiris; and probably the deity Anubis tion to their standards and symbols, so that Osiris was
should be credited as the divine originator of the process thus identified with the whole of Egypt, but without spe-
of embalming. Perhaps Khentamentiu, the ..first of the cific cults.
Westerners" and another jackal god at Abydos, whose The rule of Osiris over the realm of the dead led to his
identity was merged into that of Osiris, was involved. The most important role-that of supreme arbiter in the judg_
revivified co{pse, which received offerings, became the ment ofthe dead. The general concept ofsuch ajudgment
basis of belief in an afterlife; and Osiris, as the initial par- appeared in the early Old Kingdom sources, but in the
adigm, received the epithet Wn-nfr (Gr., Onnophis),,He New Kingdom it was elaborately developed, both textually
Who Is Permanently Benign and youthful." and pictorially, the locus classicus being Spell 125 of the
As the ruler of the realm of the dead, Osiris was physi- Book of Going Forth by Day (Book of the Dead). There, the
cally associated with the earth, which embraces the dead. weighing of the heart before Osiris as the presiding judge
Yet his chthonic aspect never excluded him from gener- depicts many supporting divine functionaries; among
ous access to the celestial world, of which the sun god Re them is Thoth as "Recordef," Anubis as "Lord of the Bal-
was the chief deity. In that astral world, Osiris was espe- ance," aided by Horus, and the figure of the goddess Maat,
cially associated with the circumpolar stars, with the con- who is conceptually dominant. Magic doubtless entered
stellation of Orion and with the brightest star in the sky, into the popular idea of such a scene; a copy of Ihe Book
Sirius. During the Ramessid era, he was shown as a com- of Going Forth by Day pushed into a tomb provided all
posite figure, united with the sun god Re, as in the tomb the questions and the ready-made answers (but the moral
of Nefertiri; this striking figure was unusual, and it did criteria expressed in the "Declarations of Innocence"
not affect the figure of the god as it was regularly shown point to a deep concern with humanitys final destiny). In
throughout most of the pharaonic era and beyond (with the Roman era, an urge to intensiSr the deceaseds' iden-
the exception of part of the Amarna age). Akhenaten, tity with Osiris is seen in representations of the deceased
when king, clearly rejected Osirian my,th and doctrine, in the form of the god; with private persons accoutred
promoting a form of monotheism based on Aten. with his royal crown. The judgment before Osiris had a
Although the mortuary role of Osiris could arouse fear strong impact on other religions, particularly on the es_
OSIRIS 619
chatology of Judaism and then Christianity-with the de- Griffiths, John Gwyn. Triads and Trinity. Cariltr, 1996.
velopment of Judgment Day and the Last Judgment. Heerma van Voss, Matthieu. Anoebis en de Demonen. Leiden, 197g. A
perceptive study of part of a pap).rus in Leiden that contains a
Punishments and rewards were conspicuous elements
twenty-first dynasty version of extracts from the Book of Going
in the Egyptian doctrine, and the punishments were most Forthby Day.
often portrayed in iconography. In the ptolemaic era, at Helck, Wolfgang. "Osiris." Paulys Realcncyclopiidie der Classischen Al-
Alexandria, Osiris was sometimes identified with Aion, teftumswissenschaften, edited by George Wissowa, suppl. 9: 469_
the snake-clad god of time, who was much honored in 514. Stuttgart, 1962.
Mithraism. Aion was seen as a peacefirl deity, beyond the Helck, Wolfgang. "Zu Klaus Kuhlmann, Zur Etymologie des G<it-
ternamens Osiis." Studien zur,4ltdglptischen Kultur 4 (1976), 121-
force of change; so was Osiris, "Lord of Eternity," for the 124.
most part, but it has been shown by L5A6 Kiikosy (1977) Hornung, Enk. Conceptions dG'od in Anciznt Eg,pt. Translated from
that Osiris displayed an aggressive and warlike aspect in the German by John Baines. London, 1983.
the mythic matter relating to his feud with Seth. K6kosy, L6zl6. "Osiris-Aion." Oriens Antiquus 3 (1964), t5-25.
I(ikosy, L6d6. "Osiris als Gott des Kampfes und der Fiache." ln Fragen
lSee also Hymns, article on Osiris Hyrnns; and Myths,
an die altAgptische Literatur: Studien zum Gedenkcn an Eberhard
article on the Osiis Cycle.l O/to, edited by Jan Assmann, et al., pp. 285-288. Wiesbaden, 1977.
I*ikosy, L5zl6. "Probleme der Ag5ptischen Jenseitsvorstellungen in der
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